LAHORE – The Punjab government is unable to keep a watch on air pollution as five out of eight air quality monitors installed in industrial cities of the province have been out of order for the last two years amid a worsening pollution situation.
Justice (retired) Ali Akbar Qureshi, chairperson of the Punjab Judicial Water & Environment Commission told international media that one each in Faisalabad, Gujranwala and Multan and two out of five monitors in Lahore are dysfunctional.
The smog issue has worsened in the South Asian country in recent years, as a mixture of micro fumes, smolder from seasonal crop burn-off, and colder temperatures coalesce into smog clouds.
Lahore was declared the most polluted city in the world by an air quality monitor on Wednesday, as residents choked in acrid smog.
Lahore had an air quality ranking of 348, well over the hazardous level of 300, according to IQAir, the Swiss technology company that operates the AirVisual monitoring platform.
The top environment official expressed concerns over slow action by the provincial government, stating that the Environment Protection Department (EPD) was responsible for installing new air quality monitors.
He said that the commission had recommended a ban on industries running without emission control systems, unfit vehicles and brick kilns operating on old technology by the end of the year.
The report about dysfunctional air quality monitors comes as the Lahore High Court (LHC) has directed private offices to halve their staff’s presence at offices at the earliest in wake of thick layer of toxic smog in the Punjab’s capital.
Justice Shahid Karim ordered the concerned authorities to summon sessions regarding the employees working in state-run offices.
The court also directed provincial authorities to take all possible measures to curb smog as medical professionals warned of an alarming rise in respiratory illness among children and adults.
Meanwhile, Judicial Water & Environmental Commission also recommended the closure of schools in metropolitan in wake of alarming air pollution however the court rejected the proposal.
Record-breaking air pollution chokes Lahore as AQI crosses 700
